


All I Want For Christmas...

by destroyerofhearts



Series: Merthur Actually [3]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Love Actually Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Filming, M/M, Merthur - Freeform, Porn, Shy!Arthur, awkward!arthur, but not actual sex, its for a film
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 06:17:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8786809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/destroyerofhearts/pseuds/destroyerofhearts
Summary: That ‘film’ shoot from Love Actually, Merthurised. You know the one.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya gang! This is me, writing all the way from Sri Lanka instead of my home in Aus! This is the third one which I absolutely wanted to write over all of the options I had in mind. So here ya go. (also I just thought it’d be funny with Merthur, right?)  
> Also shy!Arthur and awkward!Arthur what more could you want this Christmas??!1?
> 
> This is based on the Jack and Judy storyline from Love Actually.
> 
> Characters belong to BBC and Shine, storyline to Universal and Working Title.

This was never what Arthur had in mind when he had talked about becoming an actor.

Naturally, of course, paying the bills does often take some priority over one’s dreams.

So here he was, working as a stand-in on a ‘film’ shoot (which he was now almost 90% certain was a gay porn shoot. He was yet to determine this).

Before he knew it, he had been moved to stand on the set, next to a man who was fairly close to falling into the ‘twink’ category. He was 90% certain of that (and would be more sure if he took his shirt off).

“Er, hello,” he started, trying to make conversation. It had never been his strong point, small talk.

The man turned to him and smiled. “Hello,” he replied.

“I’m Arthur Pendragon. Well, er, nobody calls me by my full name, usually people call me Arthur,” he rambled as he tried to introduce himself. Great, this was off to a roaring start!

“I’m Merlin Emerson. But people drop the last name as well. It’s just Merlin,” the man, _Merlin_ , introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you, _just Merlin_ ,” Arthur chuckled and cringed. God, why would he say that? How lame could he possibly be?

Before Merlin could respond, the 1st Assistant Director came over.

“We’re ready to begin, if you two could just get into position so we can sort the lighting, and the angle of the shot, thanks,” he told them.

‘Position’ was Merlin leaning forward against the column of a rather nice set interior as Arthur gently gripped his hips and dry humped him.

The film crew mulled around for a bit, chatting among themselves, pointing and moving equipment around as the humping continued, until finally the 1st AD approached them again.

“Could we do that again, but with your shirt off? We’re just trying to get the lighting right,” he asked Merlin, who quickly complied.

(Arthur was glad he left that 10% uncertainty. He didn’t think Merlin fell into the ‘twink’ category).

Once again he leant forward and waited for Arthur to do his thing. He gently placed his hands on Merlin’s hips and started the thrusting movement.

It didn’t take long for the 1st AD to approach them again.

“Arthur, if I could just get you to place your hands more on his waist? That’d be great,” he said, and moved away fairly quickly.

Arthur nodded, hoping that his hands weren’t going to turn to clammy.

“I’ll just warm ‘em up, eh?” he mumbled, and Merlin chuckled from where he was leaning over. Arthur rubbed his hands together, tentatively placed them where Merlin’s waist was, and began the movement.

The crew’s muttering continued, and Arthur desperately felt the need to break the awkward silence that had become unbearable.

“Traffic was bloody awful getting here today, wasn’t it?”

Merlin hummed in agreement. “This time of year, always sends the shoppers berserk. Total madness on the road.”

“It was. And this sudden cold change? Wasn’t it terrible?”

“Oh, tell me about it! Bloody nightmare is what it is, wasn’t prepared for the temperature suddenly dropping!”

(Seeing as Merlin was kind enough to humour Arthur's attempt at conversation, there was now a 90% chance Arthur liked him).

\---

Arthur had never, ever, ever been very comfortable naked.

With partners? …Yeah, ok, that was acceptable. For a shoot? …not really.

There was just something so…intimate and personal about the whole ordeal. He didn’t think he had anything to be insecure about. He just preferred to be showing off _everything_ to someone he was familiar with, a loving relationship being preferable.

Naturally, he wasn’t going to be very comfortable when he was told that Merlin was to ‘ride’ him for this next scene they were being stand-in’s for. And unlike the dry humping, this would have to be done entirely naked (the exception being that little sock they’d give all the men to cover their junk).

Right now, he was lying down on the bed feeling rather vulnerable. The same crew was eyeing him as they talked, he was far too cold without his clothes on, and all he wanted to do was crawl underneath the bed and hide there for eternity.

“Hello again,” a voice startled Arthur out of his thoughts.

“Oh, uh, hi,” Arthur replied to an equally naked Merlin. He could only hope that his voice wasn’t shaking.

“You alright?” he asked, sitting on the side of the bed and looking down at Arthur with great concern.

“Er, yeah, just a wee bit cold,” Arthur told him, then shuddered.

Merlin smiled politely. “Unfortunately I can’t warm up the rest of my body the way you did with your hands yesterday, but hopefully my body heat might do something.”

“You? Body heat? You’re basically a twig,” Arthur joked, and then cringed. Why did his mouth keep doing this. “Uh, what I meant was-I mean, it’s just that you’re lean, y’know? I didn’t mean to insult you-“

“Arthur, it’s fine,” Merlin chuckled. “I know you were joking. And besides, it’s not like I haven’t heard that one before.”

“Oh, ok,” Arthur smiled, relieved that Merlin hadn’t taken offence.

“Anyway, I suppose I’d better ‘mount’ you,” Merlin giggled, then bit his lip as if he had said something wrong.

Arthur couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous Merlin could be. He was thankful, though; the man seemed to be able to make him feel more comfortable within the situation than he actually was.

Carefully, Merlin straddled him. They rearranged themselves, trying to get comfortable and still look good, and then Merlin started to bounce up and down.

“Um, Merlin?” The 1st AD started. “If you could just lower your chest slightly, toward Arthur?” Merlin placed his hands beside Arthur’s shoulders, and managed to shift into position.

“Yeah, that’s good. And if you could both do the move again, please,” he said, moving toward a monitor to check what the shot looked like.

As Merlin moved down, Arthur, entirely out of sync, moved up and bashed his head against Merlin’s chest.

“Ow! Sorry, sorry, fuck,” Arthur groaned.

“Oh, don’t worry, quite all right,” Merlin winced but managed to put on a smile anyway. “It was my fault, anyway. Tell me if you need me to shift a little to be comfortable, yeah?”

Regardless of the ‘naked’ situation, Arthur started to feel a little more at ease.

\---

It had always surprised everyone that Arthur, of all people, had wanted to act. Little, shy, awkward Arthur, who had always quivered at the thought of public speaking. The same boy who would often get stage fright during school plays, and would refuse to take any of the lead roles.

The truth was, and as he got older, he enjoyed acting quite a lot. There was something freeing for him in being able to play another character, someone who was completely different to who he was. He enjoyed hiding behind a façade, a character with a different past, conflicts and ambitions.

However, being shy and awkward did have its downfalls. The audition process was a torturous challenge, and had never gotten easier with experience. There was only so much of a character he could hide behind when he auditioned, and it was rare for him to get call-backs, let alone a good part. So for the time being, he had ended up doing smaller jobs; extras, stand-ins, the like. Anything that gave him experience and paid the bills, even if it didn’t involve him fulfilling his acting dream. But Arthur knew, one day, he finally would. He was 90% certain of this.

For now, though.

Once again, he was naked (with the sock as the only exception) and this time Merlin was kneeling before him, bobbing his head back and forth as though he were blowing Arthur. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable situation, but being with Merlin had made things easier. He was kind, and caring, and gentle, and always made sure Arthur was ok. He also seemed to brush over Arthur’s awkward slip-ups, which he was grateful for.

And Arthur really, really liked him. He was 90% certain of it. (The other 10% was his fear and reluctance of actually being in love with someone).

And now, it had taken Arthur some dry humping, riding, rimming, some light BDSM and a bizarre daddy kink before he was finally prepared to ask Merlin out.

(He was now almost 100% certain this was a gay porno).

He could do this, right?

“So, uh, Merlin?” he started, his voice shaking with nerves.

“Hmmm?” Merlin hummed, looking up at him with those gorgeous blue eyes Arthur had become accustomed to.

“I was, er, wondering…well you see, I’m, er, not very great. Socially? But around you, well, I…I feel more comfortable. So…so maybe, if you were interested, would you like to go and get a drink? Sometime? –you don’t have to, of course, I was just, uh-“

“Oh, no, I’d love to!” Merlin agreed enthusiastically.

“Oh. Really?”

“Yeah! We can exchange phone numbers after this shoot, just text me when and where and we’ll have a night out,” he grinned, having stopped his bobbing movement.

“Oh, uh, great!” Arthur smiled, feeling victorious at his success to ask Merlin ( _Merlin!_ ) out.

\---

After having built up the courage to text Merlin some details, they were finally going out on their date on the 23rd of December.

When Merlin arrived at the bar they had agreed to meet at, Arthur felt a little over-dressed. For the first ten minutes or so of the date, Arthur awkwardly had to stumble through conversation before he started to feel more at ease.

Thankfully though, Merlin was fantastic at carrying the conversation and around him, Arthur didn’t feel as awkward or strange as he often felt.

“Hey, why don’t we go ice skating? It’ll be really festive and fun!” Merlin suggested, and Arthur agreed.

The choice on Merlin’s behalf was a fantastic one. Arthur found himself relaxing a bit more as him and Merlin attempted to skate around the rink. They weren’t very good at all, constantly having to cling to one another in order to stay upright, and Merlin fell over at least 5 times.

They came off the rink laughing and Arthur was chatting rather excitedly, which was highly unusual for him. But Merlin was listening and responding to everything he said and he delighted in his patience.

“It’s quite late,” Arthur commented, now that they were away from the festive city hub.

“Mmm, it is,” Merlin sighed.

“Can I, uh, walk you home?” he offered.

Merlin nodded, a smile lighting up his face. “Yes, thank you, I’d like that.”

And so they walked together to Merlin’s flat, talking quietly among themselves and letting silence fill the gaps when there was nothing that needed to be said. It was calm, peaceful and Arthur could not have been more comfortable around Merlin.

The walk ended far too quickly, Arthur thought, as they walked up the path to where Merlin lived.

“Anyway, I’d best be off,” Merlin said.

“Yes, yes of course,” Arthur replied. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Neither of them moved.

Was this the moment that Arthur should make a move and kiss him?

Slowly, he leaned in, but he couldn’t quite read Merlin’s expression. Freaking out slightly, he pulled back.

“Er, ah, goodnight,” Arthur said hastily, and made a move to exit. God, how humiliating! He must have read Merlin wrong.

“Wait!” Merlin said, grabbing Arthur’s arm and pulling him back.

“I just…I wanted to say that,” he took in a deep breath, “all I want for Christmas…is you.”

Then, he kissed Arthur.

When he pulled back, they were both grinning like idiots.

“Goodnight,” Merlin murmured.

“Goodnight,” Arthur replied softly.

With that, Merlin went inside his flat and Arthur started his walk down the street. He could bloody well whoop and cheer, he was feeling so damn happy!

And so, he did.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked, kudos and comments are appreciated! xxx


End file.
